Violin Concertos

When Julian Olevksy made his first tour of the Orient in 1959, the Tokyo Shinbun declared him to be "the most exciting violinist to appear in Japan next to Heifetz and Oistrakh" - to which his remarkable performances on this album of violin concertos by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Wieniawski and Lalo bear eloquent witness. Julian Olevsky was born in Berlin on May 7, 1926. The son of a professional violinist, he began his studies at 7. In 1935, mindful of the growing danger in Germany, the family moved to Buenos Aires. He made his recital debut at 10 and his orchestral debut at 12 in Buenos Aires under the baton of Fritz Busch. In 1947 he immigrated to the United States. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he performed widely, touring and appearing with the finest world orchestras. He recorded extensively for the American label Westminster. Olevsky had a distinguished career as a teacher as well. In 1967 he was appointed Resident Artist and subsequently Professor of Violin at the University of Massachusetts. Olevsky died in Amherst on May 25, 1985. The eminent violin critic Henry Roth, in his survey of the great violinists said of him that he was "a brilliant virtuoso, a fine tonalist with glowing temperament and a tasteful musician and stylist." The complete Symphonie espagnole, including the 3rd movement "Intermezzo", was recorded by Julian Olevsky at the recording sessions. However, the Westminster LP of Lalo's Symphonie espagnole did not include it. Many recordings made in that era by other top ranking violinists, such as Huberman, Elman, Heifetz, Francescatti, Milstein and Grumiaux (2 recordings), also omitted the intermezzo. It is now added here as originally recorded by Olevsky, presenting the complete 5 movements version - for the very first time.